Electric guitars and saws create buzz at CityU creative media festival
An installation called “The Machines” featuring electronic guitars played by motor-driven saws will be showcased as part of the opening festival of the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre (CMC) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU).
Developed by the Netherlands’ sound artist Mr Remko Scha, the electric guitars are played in a percussive manner by sabre saw motors, creating waves in ropes that run across the open guitar strings. The oscillatory motion in the ropes creates syncopated rhythmical patterns and performs minimalist electric guitar music.
Mr Scha has presented his work at rock venues and art galleries in Europe and the United States since the 1980s, and recorded albums, too.
“The Machines” will be exhibited at M9012, 9th floor of the CMC from 7 to 30 April 2012, Monday to Saturday, 12pm to 8pm (closed on Sunday). It is open to the public for free. For more information, please call 3442 6553 or visit http://cmc.scm.cityu.edu.hk/en/events/white_walls_have_ears.html.
Mr Scha will also perform on 11 April at 8:15pm at M9012 of the CMC. Free admission is on a first-come, first-served basis. Advance booking is available only by email to hlchoi@cityu.edu.hk. In addition, a “Meet the Artist” seminar will be held on 10 April, from 5:30pm-6:30pm at M1052, L1 of the CMC. It will be conducted in English and admission is free.
Mr Scha was trained as a physical engineer in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He worked as a researcher in computational linguistics at Philips' Research Labs (Eindhoven) and BBN Laboratories (Cambridge, Mass.), and he has taught at Tel Aviv University and the University of Amsterdam. In the early 1960s he started out with physics-based visual art (burning and melting plastic), and continued with conceptual pieces and algorithmic music. In 1966 he established The New Electric Chamber Music Ensemble, a noise-oriented musical improvisation group. In 1980 he launched The Machines, an automatic guitar band. In the 1990s he designed an image-generating computer programme Artificial, and created the Institute of Artificial Art Amsterdam, a collective of machines, computers and humans, who work together toward the complete automatisation of art production. Mr Scha also worked as a DJ on the Amsterdam pirate station, Radio 100. His theoretical and historical reflections on technological art have been published in journals such as Mediamatic and Leonardo.
Notes to editors:
The media is welcome to interview Mr Scha during his stay in Hong Kong from 2 to 12 April.
Please download photos of artist’s work and captions at the following link:
http://sweb.cityu.edu.hk/fionang/CITYU_RemkoScha.zip
Media enquiries: Karen Cheng, Communications and Public Relations Office (Tel: 3442 6805 or 9201 8895) / Fion Ng, School of Creative Media (Tel: 3442 7659 or 9133 9599)